According to a report published in the Mint, the mono-shot style project of Apple Inc. is in its progress. This project dates back to the era when Steve Jobs was still active. Apple is in the progress of making a continuous and noninvasive continuous blood glucose monitoring watch. The primary aim of this secret endeavor is to check the glucose levels in the body without having to prick the skin for collecting the blood sample. This project is known as dubbed E5.
After achieving major milestones Apple strongly believes that it could bring out in the market a glucose monitoring feature for the people who are familiar with it. If it ends up being a success then it shall be a great boon and breakthrough in the field of diabetics stabilizing the presence of Apple in the healthcare unit as well. This monitoring system shall be a part of the Apple Watch and its ultimate goal shall be to make this watch compulsory to have especially for the ones suffering from diabetics all across the world.
Although, there are a few more years yet to be taken for this project to be completed but, Apple feels that this move has the capacity for upending the multibillion-dollar industry. According to market research, one out of every ten Americans is suffering from diabetes and they are dependent on a device that pricks the skin for collecting the blood sample. Although Abbott Laboratories and Dexcom Inc. offer patches that are inserted on the skin but, every two weeks it needs to be replaced.
Apple is taking a different approach towards it. There are using silicon photonics which is a chip technology and optical absorption spectroscopy which is a measurement process for it. The system shall use lasers for emitting a particular wavelength of light across an area underneath the skin where interstitial fluids are present. The substances which leak from the capillaries shall be absorbed by glucose. Then the light gets reflected into the sensor in a manner that gives an indication that glucose is concentrated. Then, through the help of an algorithm, the blood glucose level of a person shall be determined.
Over the last decade, Apple has tested this ongoing glucose technology over hundreds of people and has progressed through trial and error methods. They have even tested on people who are unaware if they are diabetic as well as on patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes.
It has been more than twelve years now that Apple’s system is in the process of making it. It is currently in the proof of concept stage and the project has been kept confidential. The engineers want to make a prototype device that shall be the size of an iPhone and can be strapped on the biceps of a person very easily.
The primary goal of Apple behind this technology is making preventative measures on alerting people if they are diabetic. Just like the Apple Watch which has become one of the health tools they believe that this device too shall be very helpful for keeping diabetes under control.
